Chapter 1
“Yes,” Milo said solemnly Lila Kim had never been a morning person. Her alarm clock—an obnoxiously chirping little bird she swore she had not purchased—had gone off at exactly 6:30 a.m., and she had snoozed it three times already. By the time she rolled out of bed, hair sticking out in at least seven awkward directions, she had exactly fifteen minutes to eat, dress, and be out the door.
Her breakfast situation was dire. In a heroic attempt to multi-task, she shoved a slice of bread into the toaster, set to “slightly less than incinerated,” and started rummaging for her school uniform.
The toaster betrayed her. Flames licked the sides of the bread like tiny, angry dragons. Smoke filled the kitchen. “No! NO!” she shouted, waving her hands like she could physically stop the fire. The smoke alarm screeched its opinion on the matter. She fumbled with oven mitts, finally retrieving a blackened, crusty slab. It smelled terrible, but she didn’t have time to care.
Next, her skirt. As she yanked it over her legs in a hurry, a sharp tear echoed across the room. She froze. The back of her skirt had split almost completely down the middle. She sighed dramatically. “Of course.” She stuffed the skirt under a jacket to cover it, hoping no one at school would notice.
Shoes half-on, backpack dangling from one shoulder, Lila bolted for the door. And then—just when she thought her morning couldn’t get worse—a strange, whistling sound cut through the air.
A glowing pigeon, feathers sparkling with hues she had no names for, smashed through the window. Glass shards tinkled harmlessly around her, but the pigeon, with the perfect air of someone who’d been waiting a very long time, landed on her shoulder.
“AHHH—WHAT WAS THAT?!” Lila shrieked, nearly toppling over. Her heart thudded like a bass drum in a marching band.
The pigeon shook loose some shimmering feathers, blinked once, and let out a sigh that sounded suspiciously human.
“Finally! I have found you, Lila of Earth.”
“…Did you just… talk?” Lila asked cautiously, inching backward.
“Yes,” the pigeon said, puffing up its chest. “I am Prism, messenger of the High Council of Magical Beings. And you, Lila, have been chosen for a quest of utmost importance.”
Lila blinked. Blinked again. Then blinked a third time, hoping that perhaps three blinks would reset reality. “Uh… nope. Already late for school,” she muttered, adjusting her uneven socks, which were somehow now even more uneven than usual.
“The fate of another world depends on you!” Prism squawked indignantly, flapping his sparkling wings. “Do you even understand the concept of destiny?”
“Then pick someone else!” Lila waved her hands wildly. “My class captain, Hyejin—she does everything! She’s super responsible! I’m… I’m… just me!”
Prism rolled his eyes—well, eye. He only had one that was visible; the other was stylishly covered by a tuft of radiant feathers. “Fate does not make substitutions,” he replied. “You were chosen.”
Before Lila could protest further, a swirling portal of rainbow light appeared at her feet, growing and spiraling like a living whirlpool. Shoes forgotten, hair flying, Lila shrieked and fell forward into the opening vortex.
“WHYYYYYYY IS THIS MY LIFEEEEEE?!” she yelled as the world spun, and reality stretched and twisted into streaks of purple, pink, and gold.
When she finally landed, the sensation of gravity—or something like it—returned, though it felt softer, gentler. She sat up on grass that glimmered faintly under her palms. The sky above was a swirl of lavender and indigo, dotted with floating crystal towers that hummed faintly. A river of liquid light flowed lazily nearby.
Lila blinked, mouth open. “Where… am I?”
“Welcome to Lumina,” Prism said, landing elegantly beside her, as elegant as a pigeon could be while still looking slightly annoyed.
Lila looked around, her mind trying to make sense of the surreal scenery. “This… is a… dream, right? Yeah, definitely a dream. I burnt my toast… my skirt ripped… and now—” She gestured at the magical world surrounding her. “—I’m in… Narnia? Or maybe Hogwarts? Or some weird K-drama world?”
“Nope. Real. All real,” Prism said flatly, tapping a wing against her shoulder for emphasis. “And your ordinary life is officially over.”
Lila groaned and flopped back onto the glowing grass, staring at the floating towers in disbelief. She had been late to school, and now apparently she was late for the fate of another world. She took a deep breath, resigned to the chaos of her life. “I’m going to need… like, a tutorial or something. And snacks. Definitely snacks.”
Prism rolled his eyes. “We’ll start with saving the world. Snacks can come later.”
